ABSTRACT
The aim of this study is to ascertain the role of combining long buccal nerve block with inferior alveolar nerve block in achieving local anesthesia for extraction of mandibular teeth. The study took place at two teaching hospitals simultaneously [Fatima Jinnah Dental College Hospital, Jinnah Medical and Dental College Hospital Karachi], from January 2011 to June 2011. A total of 300 patients were randomly assigned to 3 groups of 100 patients each. Lidocaine 2% with 1:100,000 epinephrine was used for all injections. Group 1: patients received an IAN block using 1 cartridge of L/A + 1 cartridge as Buccal infiltration. Group 2: patients received an IAN block using 2 cartridges of L/A + 1 cartridge as Buccal Infiltration. Group 3: patients received 1 cartridge as an IAN block and 1 cartridge as a long buccal nerve block. A visual analogue scale [VAS] was used to rate pain immediately post-operative while subjective discomfort experienced during the surgical procedure [rated as yes/no]. Data was also collected for patients who would require extra cartridge of IAN block to achieve complete anesthesia. Data was analyzed using SPSS 14.0. The success rates for groups 1 to 3 were 25.20%, 27.27% and 75.54% respectively. Group 3 had significantly better anesthesia compared with group 1 and group 2 [P <0.05]. Combining an IAN block and a long buccal nerve block provided more effective anesthesia in mandibular extraction